Members Learn Together

GUYMON, OKLA. – Have you ever tried to take a citizenship test? How about one in a different language? Many of the Guymon Seventh-day Adventist Church members are refugees from Myanmar. Some of them have gone through the citizenship process and have become citizens of the United States. Recently, one of our women took the “Oath of Allegiance” completing the process of becoming a citizen. The problem is that others are still in the process and need more help to understand U.S. language and history.

At the beginning of April, Mang Lian started a citizenship class with the help of three English- speaking members. Every Sunday in April, May and June were spent learning about our country, pronouncing the words, writing sentences, quizzing them on U.S. trivia, and filling out the paperwork to receive their citizenship to this country.

It was such a fun experience to see parents and church members working together to understand who the founding fathers were, how to pronounce Monticello or Eisenhower or even learning what prepositions are. The teacher who was working with the pronunciation class said that the words “of, about and rights” were the hardest to teach. The word “rights” for the Bill of Rights takes a paragraph of words in Zomi to one English word. The words “of” and “about” are words that, well you think about that. How would you define them or illustrate them? Trust me, it’s not easy, but the teacher did find a way with a big bowl “of fruit.”

The church’s second phase of this program will have three parts: inviting the community people who are also trying for their citizenship to go through this class; to start English as a Second Language class for adults; and a Zomi reading and writing class for the children so that they will not lose their mother language. Please keep our 19 citizenship students in your prayers as they wait for the date to test and interview; that they will continue to grow as citizens of this country; and that our outreach to the community will help spread the Good News about Jesus’ Second Coming. The second phase of this program will need donations, so if you are able to help the Guymon church, we thank you in advance!

By Amy Ward